Make the perfect pita pockets using sourdough! These are soft and pillowy, fun to make, and are delicious filled with your favorite pita fillings, used as a wrap, or dipped into all sorts of Mediterranean style dips! Since they bake in the oven, cooking them is quick.

I will tell you that my first love in mediterranean flatbreads is naan, and I almost always make this sourdough naan recipe - they're SO good, easy, and there's no rise time!
But sometimes, you just need a good pita pocket to stuff with all sorts of delicious fillings. Here is my sourdough version!

This is made using only sourdough starter as a leaven, so it takes quite a bit longer than my naan recipe. Since it has so much starter in it though, if you start the dough in the morning, you can be eating warm, homemade pita for dinner on the same day.

Sourdough Pita Dough
This really is quite similar to making regular sourdough bread as far as the dough goes. It has the usual components of flour, water, salt, starter. Notable additions are:
- olive oil - this keeps it soft and gives it flavor
- sugar - sugar makes bread softer. There's so little in here you won't notice it, but you'd probably notice if it weren't there.
To make the dough, you'll combine the wet ingredients plus the sugar, then mix in the flour and salt. Cover and let it rest for 15-30 minutes. Then, do a round of stretch and folds.

Once the dough has been stretched and folded, you can cover it back up and let it rise until it's doubled in size. This takes about 6-8 hours for me. If your kitchen is particularly cold and you want to stay close to the 6-8 hour timeframe, you may want to find a warm spot for your dough to rise (such as in the oven with the light on).


Shaping + Rolling Pita
Once your dough has risen, it's time to shape it. Turn it out onto a floured surface and divide it into 16 pieces.
(If you want to make particularly small or large pita, just adjust the number of pieces you divide the dough into and proceed - it won't impact the rest of the process.)
Shape each piece into a ball and cover with a towel. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes - this will give the gluten time to relax which makes rolling the pitas out easier.


Once the dough has rested, roll them one at a time into ¼-inch thick discs.
Getting Pita Form Pockets
My first time around making these I cooked them on the stovetop and was underwhelmed with the results. Maybe ⅓ of them formed a pocket, and they were definitely not as soft as I wanted them to be.
So I decided to try the oven and was amazed with the results. I could cook 4 at a time on a baking sheet (which meant it took about 20 minutes to cook them all), almost every one of them formed a perfect pita pocket, and they were so soft. The best of all worlds!

You will bake these at 500 degrees. While the balls of pita dough rest, position an oven rack in the lowest position and place a baking sheet or pizza stone on it. Preheat the oven to 500.
To cook the pita, arrange them on the preheated sheet pan or pizza stone and return to the lowest rack of the oven for 3-5 minutes. Mine take right around 4 minutes, but depending on how big/thick your pita are, you may need to adjust the time slightly.
It's so fun to leave the oven light on for this because they puff up like magic in the last minute or so. If you come to the end of the cook time and they haven't quite puffed up all the way, leave them in for a minute longer and see if they'll get any bigger.

Let the cooked pita cool slightly, then stack and cover with a tea towel to keep them warm. There is nothing like a fresh, warm pita!

Storage + Leftovers
You can store this pita bread tightly wrapped or in a plastic bag for up to 5 days at room temperature. I find it easiest to reheat them in the toaster, but you can also use the oven.
If your pita bread gets too stale for your liking, you can most definitely cut them up and turn them into pita chips!
Sourdough Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 360 grams warm water
- 200 grams active sourdough starter
- 60 grams olive oil
- 15 grams sugar
- 550 grams bread flour
- 12 grams salt
Directions
- Combine the water, starter, oil, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix until well combined. Once a shaggy dough forms, cover the bowl and allow to rest for 15-30 minutes.Once the dough has rested, do a round of stretch and folds, then cover the bowl again and let rise until doubled in size - about 6-8 hours.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 16 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Cover the balls of dough with a towel and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, position an oven rack to the lowest position, place a pizza stone or sheet pan on it, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Roll each ball of dough into a round - adding flour to the work surface and surface of the dough as needed to prevent sticking. You want each pita to be about ¼-inch thick. Arrange as many rolled pitas as you can on the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet in a single layer, then bake for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through and puffed up. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly, then place in a stack covered with a towel to keep warm. Continue cooking rolled pitas in batches.Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days. Reheat in the toaster or the oven.

Sarah says
What adjustments would I need to make for a whole wheat version of this recipe?
mandyjackson says
Hi Sarah, I've not tried this using whole wheat flour, but generally I'd start by replacing about a third to a half of the flour with whole wheat, and increasing the water. Maybe start with 200 grams whole wheat flour, 350 grams bread flour, and 375 grams water and make adjustments from there. Would love to hear how it goes if you try it!